Vitamin lead?

File this in the can’t win for trying department: Multivitamins may be bad for your health.

A new study by Consumer Lab found that many multivitamins contain potentially dangerous levels of lead, and many did not contain the vitamins and minerals their labels proclaim.

Lead is especially dangerous to fetuses and small children, which is seriously bad news for pregnant women who take fistfuls of prenatal vitamins in hopes of a healthy baby.

Almost no vitamins were found to be free of lead, according to the Sacramento Bee (the study results are by subscription only). Indeed, lead-free may be an impossible goal because fruits and vegetables absorb lead from soil and water.

What’s a person to do? Your best bet is to buy a well known brand and look for a stamp on the bottle from USP, NSF or Consumer Lab.com. Living in California helps, because our state is the only one to regulate vitamins. By California law, 15 percent of the vitamins evaluated ought to carry a warning label.

The FDA only takes action against dietary supplements proven to be dangerous once on the market, meaning that lots of people have to get sick before the federal agency will step in. With dietary supplements as popular as they are, this policy could certainly use a revision.

In the meantime, opt for fruits and vegetables in a variety of colors. Colors generally correspond to vitamin content.